Main menu

Post navigation

Contouring 101

Anyone who is a beauty fanatic like myself, knows the magic of contouring. You can use shading to transform the look of your face, allowing to accentuate your high points and hide your flaws. Usually this is achieved by using bronzer/darker shade to contour the shape of your face and a concealer/highlighter to accentuate and draw attention to other areas of your face. Above is a fairly dramatic drawing of areas to shade and highlight. Below is my own example:

The white areas represent concealer to highlight and the brown areas represent where I use a darker bronzer to shade in. By sucking in your cheeks you can essentially thin your face and make your cheekbones a bit more exaggerated. The same goes for under your chin; by shading this area it allows your face to look thinner, especially if you have a bit of a double-chin like myself 😉 The under eye area looks amazing with the concealer underneath. It brightens the area and makes you look more wide-eyed and awake. The area underneath your brows (the brow bone) also exaggerates your eyes and helps keep your face looking extra sharp. The nose is probably the most difficult to shade, since you don’t want it to look funky. Use a gentle hand on the sides in order to slim your nose (I use a shadow brush in order to be more precise.) And don’t forget to add a but of highlighter to the bridge of your nose as well. The upper lip area is optional. I don’t see any MAJOR differences when I don’t highlight it, however if you are doing a dramatic lip it does help accentuate them. With a good primer and foundation base, contouring can really transform your face. It does take a little time, but in my opinion it’s totally worth it! The final product: (Check photo description for all products used!)